Has anyone ever taken a deep dive into your art and your artistic journey?
Well, I can’t say I have, but still, I do have a Deep Dive discussion about me and my art. And not by me. And I thought it was so fun to listen to, that I’m sharing it here!
Who are these two? Well – they’re two AI voices used by the Deep Dive function in Google’s NotebookLM. I added the pages which are about my art and artistic endeavours in this blog as sources – and let them have a go at it. Just for fun.
My Instagram account is Dionaea Design. My domain name is dionaea.com, and I use the name in a few other places, too. Why Dionaea? What’s that about that logo I use? It all started when my imagination wanted me to draw a character. It turned out to be a flower; a carnivorous, mobile flower. When? That I can’t say for sure – the earliest documented memory of it, is from the last century, back in 1985.?
The name Dionaea I got from a botanical book, and inspired by the carnivorous Venus Flytrap. Dionaea muscipula in Latin. I liked that first part.?
My Dionaea sketch from ’89
I never got so far as to develop a story around Dionaea and make a book out of it (as I was encouraged to do by a famous fantasy artist …). I just have made some drawings here and there. This sketch from ’89 turned up together with my dog drawings, on a flimsy piece of paper.?
It’s been a while since I’ve done anything with my Dionaea character, even though I’ve had ideas of what to do. I probably should try to do a bit more again. Maybe just something as simple as trying to paint it with acrylic paint?
Nobody has actually said what the header says, but I’ve got hints now and then, in the form of questions. And as you can guess from my previous post, I haven’t had anything to show for me.
It has been annoying me. Not the questions, but that I haven’t managed to sit down and paint. (Or stand and paint, but my easel is a tabletop one.)
This Christmas, I got yet another hint that I should get to work. 😉
Admittedly, I bought something myself, too, that I got early in December. Something more special stuff, more in the style of what I wrote in Oh, the possibilities.
Stuff from Culture Hustle
Yeah, I bought some LIT. Four containers of glow-in-the-dark powder, superbase – a medium to mix them with so I can use it as paint, and a little bottle of the mirrorest mirror chrome paint.
Did I have an idea of how to use it, or what to use it for, before I bought it all? Or did I just think it was cool?
Admittedly, I do think it’s cool, and that it can make some nice effects when used, but I did have a couple of ideas in mind when I decided to get it.
I got a few more ideas later.
Now I need to make some nice sketches to make those ideas stand out clearer to myself before I even start thinking of painting with it. But in the meantime, there are a lot of other paintings that I want to get to.
So, while I’m not saying what ideas I have myself, maybe you have got some playing around in your minds now? What are they?
It has been a while since the last update here now. To be honest, it’s been too long since I have managed to write something about my painting projects, and it has annoyed me quite a bit. The reason why is unfortunately an easy one.
I haven’t painted anything. Or rather, I haven’t finished painting anything. There are three paintings that I have started.
This was the situation until a few days before Christmas. The evening of the 21st December, I finally managed to do something again. I painted the cover of a sketchbook!
The top is photographed in the light. The bottom with the lights off, showing the glow-in-the-dark effect.
I wanted to give it away, so it was an extra encouragement to get it done. The inspiration came from a mural, and I figured: Hey, I can manage to make a space motive, and use some glow-in-the-dark medium.
That medium wasn’t quite as flowing as I had hoped. Getting thicker by the age? But I managed to make something nice out of it anyway.
All in all, while I could do more out of it by spending more time on it, I’m quite happy with the result and got some positive feedback on it, too. Mission satisfyingly completed.
First of all: No, I’ve not got corona, I’m well and healthy. Admittedly, it’s said that several people can get infected with the virus without noticing anything at all, but until proven otherwise, I’ve not had it, nor do I have it. My fight against the corona is not a fight against the virus itself, but against what the fear of it causes.
Sort of.
My life has been more or less as normal these weeks; I’ve been shopping food as normal – only a bit better place in the shops, and as for other shops I haven’t missed anyone that might have been closed. The only way that I’ve been directly affected, is when painting classes were cancelled.
Painting classes aren’t exactly considered essential, so having them cancelled isn’t that big of a deal. Except, if I shall be honest, it was much easier getting done some painting when there was a class every week. It has been harder to get a grip on myself and paint now, and it isn’t only about a complicated image to get correct. Breaking up from the usual habits has made it easier – too easy – to tell myself that the painting can wait a little bit; it won’t run away. Just that after not too long, my good habit of painting isn’t there anymore. I have to restart it.
This is where I am now. I have to just put aside whatever else I’m doing, and paint something. Either continuing on a painting, or a new painting if I struggle with the first one. Only good thing is that I’ve managed to get some other needed things done, so at least I won’t think of those anymore.
OK, this was just a little sigh of the heart, to let you know why I’m not posting anything to show my progress (or lack thereof).
So, I started painting. Attending classes to learn how to express me through acrylics, in a way that looks good. While I’ve always had an artistic side, it’s the first time I’ve tried acrylics, and for one single exception the first time I’ve seriously tried painting. (Whatever I did with watercolours when I was a child I don’t count as serious work.)
Of course, to start painting some things are a necessity. Like paint. Some of which I had bought before I even had enjoyed the thought of attending the classes. Acrylics are also nice to paint other objects with, like figures and models. I bought a set of paints for that – never got around to do anything about it though. But I will. Some time.
This means that when I signed up for the classes, I already had some paints. Even in the colours I should have. As luck wanted it, they were even bought in the shop where they sold the recommended brand. Or at least one recommended brand. I also bought myself an easel and a starter set with paint, brushes, wooden palette and even a canvas in that same shop. Turned out the brushes were more suited for oil painting, but I’ve bought more brushes and canvases from other shops, so no problem.
The Sang colours and starter set
So, why was the brand sold in one shop recommended over another shops own brand of acrylics? It was due to the amount of pigments in the paint and how well it covered. Good thing I bought my paint from the “correct” shop then.
Amsterdan and Søstrene Grene
Except – they sold two different brands. I had bought the other brand. Only the name of the shop had been mentioned, not the brand of the recommended paint, so how could I know?
Now, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying painting, and how was the brand I bought, Sang, compared to the other brand, Liquitex Basic, anyway? Amateur as I am, I didn’t feel I had a bad paint – it seemed to cover nicely. I even bought a silver-colour from the not recommended Søstrene Grene for a special project. That colour was very pigmented and covered very well. I also bought a recommended colour, Paynes Grey, from yet another brand, Amsterdam. That one’s still untested, though…
It was Liquitex and Sang that was on my mind, though, and after a while, I did get a bit curious, though. How didSang compare? Time to turn to the internet.
I found quite a bit of tests and comparisons between different brands. Many different brands, most of which I don’t remember now. The only one I remember the name of is one called Folk Art. As that one was irrelevant to me, I don’t remember how it did, except it wasn’t bad. Liquitex had two variations, the Basic and one Artist Quality, even more pigmented and better covering. Amsterdam also did well. But Sang? I didn’t find anything about it, except on the shop pages. No help there, so I guess I have to test out myself. I’ve bought some Liquitex colours myself now.
Oh dear, when did I get these?
Varnish makes the colours pop!
While writing this article, it occurred to me that I hadn’t searched for any test of Søstrene Grene, so now I did. One page popped up, where their brand actually was described as a good buy; more pigmented than other well-known brands, and cheap. Not artist quality, but still…
Before I sat down writing, I also got another surprise: While looking for something completely different, more paint turned up. Acrylics. Of the Folk Art brand. I have no recollection of that one – I must’ve had it for years, unopened. Well, it’s going to be fun, trying it all out. What’s “best” also depends on the painting style, I’ve learned.
So with all this said, the question remains: Painting – do I take it seriously?
I’ve finally found out something about some of my visitors. Not who they are, but what they are. At least I’m certain to some degree, namely brassirothesauriasts.
Sounds cool, eh?
I have wondered a bit about this earlier, too, due to a search phrase – girls in bra pics – turning up again and again. That same search phrase is still going strong these days. Out of curiosity I checked the IP-addresses for a few of those searchers, to see where they came from. Way too few to say anything about the origins of them in general, but those I did check originated in Middle-East/Asia; Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia…
Just to mention some statistics around the topic. 😉
And now I’ve realized these most likely are brassiothesauriasts. But what’s with this fancy word? Well, here’s the definition:
Brassirothesauriast (bruh-zeer-oh-thuh-SAW-ree-ast) – A person who collects brassieres or pictures of women wearing them.
I got a little begging mail from a friend myself, to visit a site and fill in what it said, and we’d both get a free iPod Nano. Well – I thought I should bite this time and try, after all what did I have to lose?
Well – it turned out it was a bit more for me to do to achieve the prize: I have to refer five more people myself that will have to register and take up one offer themselves. How? Well – I could send them an email, or by instand messaging, or even post a link to my blog. As you suspect, I’m writing this entry to post the link – those of you who want to give it a shot and try to get a free iPod Nano yourself may want to try it.
Get a FREE iPod Nano! (Offer is for all countries, but it seems Americans — or should that be USers? 😉 — will have an easier time at the moment…)
I will update the post (or write in the comments) if it works. As long as I actually refer 5 people who go the line out, that is… (What is there to lose?)
